IWF stands in solidarity with anti-doping division of Court of Arbitration

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) released a statement saying they welcome and support the decision from the anti-doping division of the Court of Arbitration (CAS) regarding Kazakhstan weightlifter Nijat Rahimov.

Last week the CAS ruled Rahimov ineligible to compete for a period of eight years, and disqualified all of his competitive results since March 15, 2016 due to several doping violations. This includes losing his Olympic gold medal he won in the 77kg competition at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.

“Sadly in the past we had a culture of doping. The IWF Executive Board recognizes this problem,” said IWF Interim President Michael Irani in a statement. “Over the last three years we have invested millions of dollars into our anti-doping testing and clean sport development to ensure weightlifting is clean. We do not accept any form of doping in our sport, and we are doing everything we can to chase dopers out. They are not welcome in our sport.”

In July 2019 the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) did a complete audit on the IWF’s anti-doping program. WADA confirmed the IWF is fully compliant with all WADA codes and standards.

Since 1968, a total of 50 Olympic medals have been stripped in weightlifting due to doping violations. That number is second only to athletics, who have had 52 medals taken away. Wrestling is third with 12 medals.

Weightlifting is currently not on the LA28 Olympic program, though the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has given the sport a blueprint towards a possible reinstatement.

“We have come a long way from the terrible doping problems we faced in our sport,” said IWF General Secretary Mohammed Jaloud. “We cannot be complacent. We must continue the improvement in our anti-doping program and remain vigilant to ensure athletes can be happy to compete in our competitions drug free.”

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